TV Shows - 3 Body Problem

Watched on Netflix
Season 1
Number of Episodes: 8
Length of Episode: 45-60 minutes each
IMBd: 7.7/10
RT Critic's Consensus: 78%
RT Audience Score: 80%
cag: 6

Premiered: 3/21/24 on Netflix

Characters: Five scientist/physicist friends, all brilliant, all very close.  The Chinese/English cop/bodyguard, The original Chinese young adult from the 60's Cultural revolution is followed from young girls and the beginning of all the trauma throughout the entire series.

My comments:  Absolutely awesome SciFi.  Top notch entertainment.  Comes from a book of the same name, written by a Chinese writer, set in China.  This television version switched the contemporary scenes to London, but kept a diverse set of characters and the 1960s parts still set in China.  Incredible cast, the relationships between the five main characters (spoiler:  only three are left "alive" at the end of season 1) seem real.  LOTS of characters, great sets, super well done.

Storyline from IMBd: Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.

Movie - Little Women

PG

Wide release 12/25/2019

Viewed 12/29 in Carlisle with Sandy

IMBd: 8.3/10

RT Critic:  95  Audience:  93

Critic's Consensus:  With a stellar cast and a smart, sensitive retelling of its classic source material, Greta Gerwig's Little Women proves some stories truly are timeless.

Cag:  5.5/Loved it!

Directed (and written) by Greta Gerwig

Sony Pictures

Based on the book by Louisa May Alcott

Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Laura Dern, Timothee Chalamet, Meryl Streep

My comments:  What a fabulous movie, really cleverly written, going back-and-forth between the time of the original book and seven years into the future.  For the most part well cast, but there were a few that I wasn't so crazy about, particularly John, the tutor then husband of Meg...and there didn't seem to be enough chemistry between Amy and Laurie, at least not for me.  A wonderful movie to watch, hope it earns some awards.  Particularly loved Laura Dewrn as Marmie.  

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Writer-director Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) has crafted a Little Women that draws on both the classic novel and the writings of Louisa May Alcott, and unfolds as the author's alter ego, Jo March, reflects back and forth on her fictional life. In Gerwig's take, the beloved story of the March sisters - four young women each determined to live life on her own terms -- is both timeless and timely. Portraying Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth March, the film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, with Timothée Chalamet as their neighbor Laurie, Laura Dern as Marmee, and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.

MOVIE - Mortal Engines

PG-13 (1:51)

Wide release 12/14/18

Viewed 12/14/18 in Camp Hill
IMBd: 6.4/10

RT Critic:  26  Audience:  59
Critic's Consensus:  Mortal Engines has no shortage of eye-catching special effects, but lacks enough high-octane narrative fuel to give this futuristic fantasy sufficient cinematic combustion.

Cag:  1.5

Directed by Christian Rivers

Universal Pictures

Based on the book by Philip Reeve

My comments:  Excruciatingly long and really quite boring, no surprises, over-acted.  Maybe if I had read the book?  Not impressed.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Hundreds of years after civilization was destroyed by a cataclysmic event, a mysterious young woman, Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar), emerges as the only one who can stop London -- now a giant, predator city on wheels -- from devouring everything in its path. Feral, and fiercely driven by the memory of her mother, Hester joins forces with Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan), an outcast from London, along with Anna Fang (Jihae), a dangerous outlaw with a bounty on her head.

MOVIE - Ready Player One

PG (2:20)

Wide release 3/29/18

Viewed on a Thursday off, 4/5/18 in Hanover at the RC Theater there - a 1:20 showing, I was the only one in the HUGE auditorium.
IMBd:  8/10

RT Critic: 74   Audience:  80
Critic's Consensus:  Ready Player One is a sweetly nostalgic thrill ride that neatly encapsulates Spielberg's strengths while adding another solidly engrossing adventure to his filmography.

Cag:  3.5

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Warner Brothers Pictures

Based on the book by Ernest Cline

My comments:  It was okay...entertaining....a LOT of battle scenes, the last one, when they're fighting for entrance to find the final key is painstakingly long.  Drove me a bit crazy.  It's a long movie.  But fun.  Not great.  Book was, of course, better....

RT/ IMDb Summary:  From filmmaker Steven Spielberg comes the science fiction action adventure Ready Player One, based on Ernest Cline's bestseller of the same name, which has become a worldwide phenomenon.The film is set in 2045, with the world on the brink of chaos and collapse. But the people have found salvation in the OASIS, an expansive virtual reality universe created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance). When Halliday dies, he leaves his immense fortune to the first person to find a digital Easter egg he has hidden somewhere in the OASIS, sparking a contest that grips the entire world. When an unlikely young hero named Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) decides to join the contest, he is hurled into a breakneck, reality-bending treasure hunt through a fantastical universe of mystery, discovery and danger.

MOVIE - A Wrinkle in Time

PG

Widel release 3/9/18

Viewed date at 3/25/18 at Carlisle 8
IMBd:  4.2/10

RT Critic: 41   Audience: 33
Critic's Consensus:  A Wrinkle in Time is visually gorgeous, big-hearted, and occasionally quite moving; unfortunately, it's also wildly ambitious to a fault, and often less than the sum of its classic parts.

Cag: 2.5  It was okay.

Directed by Ava DuVernay

Walt Disney Pictures

Based on the book by Madeline L'Engle (which I've read many times, beginning when I was just a kid).

Chris Pine, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling

My comments:  Pretty over-the-top.  Not at all what I had envisioned in my mind after all the times I've read this book.  Meg was nothing like I'd pictured, nor was Calvin.  And Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Which?  NOOOOOO!  Okay, so I forget about the book, and think about the movie as a whole, without the book.  How does that change my thinking?  That's when the over-the-top thinking kicks in.  Mindy Kaling's character, costuming, and setting di work okay for me....
          I love fantasy, I love sci fi.  For some reason, this just didn't do it for me.  DARN!  The music was pretty decent, though....

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Meg Murry (Storm Reid) is a typical middle school student struggling with issues of self-worth who is desperate to fit in. As the daughter of two world-renowned physicists, she is intelligent and uniquely gifted, as is Meg's younger brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe), but she has yet to realize it for herself. Making matters even worse is the baffling disappearance of Mr. Murry (Chris Pine), which torments Meg and has left her mother (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) heartbroken. Charles Wallace introduces Meg and her fellow classmate Calvin (Levi Miller) to three celestial guides-Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey), Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon) and Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling)-who have journeyed to Earth to help search for their father, and together they set off on their formidable quest. Traveling via a wrinkling of time and space known as tessering, they are soon transported to worlds beyond their imagination where they must confront a powerful evil. To make it back home to Earth, Meg must look deep within herself and embrace her flaws to harness the strength necessary to defeat the darkness closing in on them.

MOVIE - Jumanji

RPG-13 (1:52)

Wide Release 12/20/17

Viewed 2/2/18 with Laura and Ella - girls night out - Panera Bread first.
IMBd: 7.0

RT Critic:  77  Audience:  87
Critic's Consensus:  Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle uses a charming cast and a humorous twist to offer an undemanding yet solidly entertaining update on its source material.

Cag:  4/ liked it a lot

Directed by Jake Kasdan

Columbia Pictures

Based on the book by CHris VanAllsburg

Jack Black, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart

My comments:  I would never have chosen to go to this by myself, but when Laura suggested we take Ella I jumped at the chance and I'm so glad I did.  What a fun movie!  You get to know four teenagers for a short bit...about 20 to 25 minutes...before they're wooshed into the game of Jumanji and become different characters played by Jack Black, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, and pretty girl, *****.  They are joined near the end of their adventure by one of the Jonas Brothers.  Excitement and adventure abound, but it's the funny stuff that really keep this movie rolling and the laughter surfacing.  Fun movie!  All three of us really enjoyed it a lot.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  When four high-school kids discover an old video game console with a game they've never heard of--Jumanji--they are immediately drawn into the game's jungle setting, literally becoming the avatars they chose: gamer Spencer becomes a brawny adventurer (Dwayne Johnson); football jock Fridge loses (in his words) "the top two feet of his body" and becomes an Einstein (Kevin Hart); popular girl Bethany becomes a middle-aged male professor (Jack Black); and wallflower Martha becomes a badass warrior (Karen Gillan). What they discover is that you don't just play Jumanji--you must survive it. To beat the game and return to the real world, they'll have to go on the most dangerous adventure of their lives, discover what Alan Parrish left 20 years ago, and change the way they think about themselves--or they'll be stuck in the game forever...

MOVIE - Wonder

PG (1:53)

Wide release 11/17/17

Viewed around 12/1/17: 

RT Critic: 84   Audience:  88
Critic's Consensus:  Wonder doesn't shy away from its bestselling source material's sentiment, but this well-acted and overall winsome drama earns its tugs at the heartstrings.

Cag: 5/Loved it 

Directed by Stephen Chbosky

Lionsgate

Based on the book by Patricia Polaccio

Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson

My comments:  The ultimate feel-good movie.  They did a really good job re-creating the book, choosing excellent actors and creating a wonderful setting for the two schools and the city of New York.  Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson were almost too perfect playing the parents of Augie.  I really enjoyed the weaving of the story of Augie with the story of his sister, Via, who was four years older.  Hooray to R. J. Palaccio for writing such a heartwarming story, which I've not only read to myself, but shared aloud with two or three different groups of kids.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Based on the New York Times bestseller, WONDER tells the inspiring and heartwarming story of August Pullman. Born with facial differences that, up until now, have prevented him from going to a mainstream school, Auggie becomes the most unlikely of heroes when he enters the local fifth grade. As his family, his new classmates, and the larger community all struggle to find their compassion and acceptance, Auggie's extraordinary journey will unite them all and prove you can't blend in when you were born to stand out.

MOVIE - Murder on the Orient Express

PG-13 (1:54)

Wide/Limited release

Viewed sometime around 11/15/17

RT Critic:  58  Audience:  54
Critic's Consensus:  Stylish production and an all-star ensemble keep this Murder on the Orient Express from running off the rails, even if it never quite builds up to its classic predecessor's illustrious head of steam.

Cag:  4.5
Directed by  Kenneth Branagh

Studio 20th Century Fox

Based on the book by Agatha Christie

Kenneth Branagh, Penelope Cruz, Willem Defoe, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench

My comments:  An excellent whodunit with an even more stellar cast.  I've never read this famous Agatha Christie novel, so it was really cool that I had no idea who the murderer was!  The locales and the cinematography was spectacular, as well as Kenneth Branagh's Hercule Poiret's amazing mustache!

RT/ IMDb Summary:  What starts out as a lavish train ride through Europe quickly unfolds into one of the most stylish, suspenseful and thrilling mysteries ever told. From the novel by best-selling author Agatha Christie, "Murder on the Orient Express" tells the tale of thirteen strangers stranded on a train, where everyone's a suspect. One man must race against time to solve the puzzle before the murderer strikes again. Kenneth Branagh directs and leads an all-star cast including Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley and Josh Gad.